Early turnout thin in boycotted Niger vote

By Abdoulaye Massalatchi

NIAMEY (Reuters) - Turnout for Niger's parliamentary election was thin on Tuesday after opposition calls to boycott the poll expected to allow President Mamadou Tandja to toughen his grip on power in the uranium-exporting West African state.

Tandja's second term in office was due to expire this year but he defied domestic and international pressure to extend his mandate for a further three years and increase his presidential powers at the expense of parliament's.

"I hope for my people's sake that those elected will be true patriots," the retired army colonel, who has argued he must stay to oversee multibillion-dollar infrastructure projects in the impoverished desert state, said as he cast his vote.

However a Reuters witness in the capital Niamey said that by mid-morning turnout was slow, with some polling booths still waiting for their first voter to arrive.

Polling is due to continue until 7 p.m. (1800 GMT), with preliminary and then final results due within three to five days.

French state-owned energy firm Areva, which has been digging uranium in Niger for decades, is spending 1.2 billion euros on a new mine, and China National Petroleum Corp signed a $5 billion deal there last June.

A referendum in August, condemned both internationally and at home, eliminated many of the remaining checks on Tandja's authority, abolished term limits, and gave him an initial three years in power longer without facing an election.

The country's constitutional court declared that vote illegal, to which Tandja responded by abolishing the court and replacing its members with his own appointees.

Washington has denounced Tandja's actions as undermining the rule of law, while the European Union has delayed aid payments.

On Saturday, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) called on Tandja to delay the poll to allow dialogue with the opposition in Niger. The regional grouping has said it could punish Niger by imposing sanctions if Tandja contravenes democratic principles.